Today I hopped in the car and it barely turned over. After it started I noticed that the driver's side mirror moved to a position other than my memory preset--but only the driver's side. I then tried to get into "Comp driving" mode, but the car would accept only "on" or "off". I also noticed that the guage cluster illumination was at its lowest intensity, and had to be readjusted. After driving for a few miles I was able to engage the "comp mode", and after restarting the car after a drive all was back to normal except the driver's side mirror position. I last drove it 5 days ago on my usual work commute which involves about 20 minutes of 40-65 mph speeds, and drove it 4 of 7 days last week. Funny thing is I had the car in the garage in Michigan over the winter, and started it up every two weeks with no problems, but for that whole time I had the car (M6 '09) with the shifter in reverse.

I read alot of DBS stories, but I never paid much attention to why DBS exists, so I'm gonna do me a search and see what's what. I wonder if there is a common theme to the stories; there does seem to be a gremlin in the system for all the people being affected. It does make you appreciate how complex these cars are, and how much we take for granted when they work flawlessly day in and day out. And from now on I'll park the car with the shifter in reverse.

 

While I certainly don't claim to know what caused your car to behave the way it did, I can tell you that it wasn't due to the phenomenon that's come to be known here as DBS. DBS happens only on 2005 models with manual transmissions. Starting with 2006 models, changes in firmware played a part in eliminating it; 2006 and up models also do not need to be put into reverse before shutting down. Since yours is a 2009, putting it in reverse won't affect whether or not the problems you experienced return.

 

DBS is a thing of the past on my 05 since the dealer performed a reflash.

 

I had a DBS incident shortly after I got my '05...at around 6,500 miles. At the time the DBS was a major topic on this forum, and not officially acknowledged or maybe it was, but they did not have a fix. In my case they replaced the battery and I've not had a problem since, and I have 15.5K miles on it.

I would like to go ahead and get the firmware flash procedure done. So I can head my dealer in the right direction, can anyone tell me:

1) is there an official service bulletin for DBS
2) if so, what is the service bulletin number
3) is it a 2005 or 2006 service bulletin
4) is the re-flash free, if not about how much

Thanks,
Clint aka billybaloneey